Worldbuilding Questions Questions About How the World Looks • Is your world one concentrated area, or dispersed across different environments? • What part of the world will the story take place in? • What aspects of the physical terrain affect the story? • How is the weather? Is it temperate or severe? What are its seasons? • How does the landscape look? • What are its borders? • What languages are spoken? • What natural resources are there? • What are the cultures present and what are their cultural practices? Questions About the Characters or Inhabitants • Are the inhabitants human, alien, magical beings, or hybrids? • How many are there? • Have they always lived there? If not, how did they come to live there? • Do they have a class system? If yes, how is it defined? • Do they have gender or race? • How do the characters relate to one another? • Who are their friends and enemies? • What occupation do they have? Questions About the History of Your World • What is the ruling system in place? • Who has ruled the world throughout history? • What major events have influenced this world's development? • How have the leaders impacted the government—and consequently, life—in the world? • Did anything historical happen recently? • How did the country or settlement reach where it is now? • Are there religious or political events in history that have an impact on your plot? • Have there been any major environmental catastrophe, such as plagues, tsunamis, or famine? How have these events affected the land and the inhabitants? • Has the country ever been at war? With whom? Is it at war now? Copyright 2020 by TCK Publishing www.TCKPublishing.com https://www.tckpublishing.com/worldbuilding-questions/ Questions About Society and Its Rules • What is the governmental structure of your world? Does it have a democratic, totalitarian, or authoritarian rule (or something in between)? • Who has authority, power, or influence? Is it run by an individual, a family, or another group of people? • Do the characters follow the rules, bend them, ignore them, or blatantly break them? What happens when they do this? Who administers justice, and how is it done? • How do the characters view the rules? Do they see them as just and fair, or are they resentful of the rules? Questions About Social Customs, Religion, etc. • What language habits do the people have? Are they talkative, or laconic? • What major religious belief do they have? What gods do they have? • Are the gods actively involved in the world? • Do they go to a house of worship? What religious services do they have? • What do the people consider sacred or holy? Do they revere certain objects or symbols? • What religious rituals or customs do they have? • How many of the people believe in that religious system? • Are there other religious systems? How do people with different religious beliefs deal with one another? • What major celebrations or festivals do the people hold? • How long do the people work in a week? • Are gender roles defined? How do people of different genders act? • How do the people treat birthdays and death? • Do they get to marry for love? Or are marriages arranged? • What does marriage look like in your world? • What actions are deemed immoral or improper? Additional Questions for Fantasy and Science Fiction World Building • Is there magic? If so, how does it operate? • Who has magic in your world? Where did the magic powers come from? • Are there different skill levels for magic? • What are the rules and limitations for the magic? • What happens when the rules for magic are broken? Are there exceptions? • What mythical creatures are in your world? Are they the same or different from existing creatures in other literary works? • What powers do they have, if any? • Which species are friendly and which are not? • What languages do the creatures speak? Copyright 2020 by TCK Publishing www.TCKPublishing.com https://www.tckpublishing.com/worldbuilding-questions/ .